Watch the tide rise

People can watch the king tide rising at east-Auckland beaches from the comfort of their own homes tonight.

Auckland Council will live-stream footage from various hot spots around the region, and deliver it through social media platforms in a project called the King Tides Auckland Initiative.

One of the year's highest king tides is due to hit the city's east-coast beaches at 9.31pm.

Event co-ordinator Ben Sheeran said it was important to document the event to provide a snapshot of how rising tides would affect infrastructure in the future.

People can attend the official king-tide countdown on the city's waterfront tonight or search King Tides AKL on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram for a live feed.

Sheeran said normally the council would encourage people to go out and view the tide themselves but being a night event it decided it would be safer to use social media as a research platform instead.

Tamaki Dr was expected to be among the worst-hit spots, as well as the northwestern motorway cycleway and Bucklands Beach, he said.

"Realistically I think we may have seen a greater impact last night given the confluence of some of the weather effects, but there are gusty westerlies predicted for Bucklands Beach and with the wind picking up there may be more of an impact," he said.

The king tide may be what a normal tide looks like in the future, potentially within decades, he said.